Iwata: 3DS launch sales below expectations

by Ben Gilbert on Apr 26th 2011 2:30PM

For Nintendo, 3.61 million just isn't enough. That's the number of 3DS systems sold since launch, and it's approximately 400K short of Nintendo's launch goal, says company head Satoru Iwata. Speaking to investors today in Osaka, Japan, Iwata specifically noted (in an official translation), "Nintendo 3DS started very well but, on the other hand, did not perform as expected after the second week."

Iwata cited the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan earlier this year as a factor, but added, "I should not blame this situation just on the impact of the earthquake. There are other challenges that have shown up." Without being specific, he said that the company is "making efforts to get the popularity of Nintendo 3DS back on track for the upcoming summer season." How about, you know, some games we'd want to play?

Nintendo has a followup earnings briefing scheduled for next Tuesday in Tokyo, so perhaps we'll find out more about the company's plans then.

Source: Nintendo

Tags: 3ds, ds, nintendo, nintendo-of-japan, sales, satoru-iwata

Reader Comments (120)

Well, maybe if they didn't price it so damned high...

@Rollins Yeah. 250 is too much for the novelty, and that is all the 3ds is. The battery life is (famously) horrible, and the launch lineup? There are simply no games people buy the system for. I think if black/white had been on 3ds instead of DS it would have boosted sales considerably.

@Rollins

The Rent is too damn high!

@Rollins. And Mario was there...

@Rollins

The price isn't too high.

The 3DS

*puts on shades*

Has no games

@geniuswithagun

Dunno, Pokemon B/W on 3DS would have gimped pokemon sales (i know at least 4 people who wouldn't have bothered getting a 3DS for one game and would have just not purchased pokemon).

3DS isn't a gimmick though. It just has no games ATM. While yes, the 3D feature is nice - It adds a ton of other functionality and power over the original DS. Do you think Super Street Fighter IV would have been even remotely possible on a DS? C'mon now. The online functionality will be sweet once games are there to support it. Don't worry, it'll be the hot new thing in time for Xmas this year. With the awesome game lineup that will eventually release this year, it'll be brilliant. They honestly just should have released it in Summer instead of now - Sure you got a few sales, but really the launch lineup needed it's Super Mario 64.

@Anticrawl

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@Rollins

Get a job if you think the price is too high.

$250.00 for a game system that'll last you for 3+ years is not too much. That's like the price of 2 games every year for 3 years.

Besides, price clearly isn't the problem - the lack of quality launch titles is - which is why we saw tons of "used" 3DS's appearing in Japan a few weeks after launch.

Guaranteed that when Zelda hits - the 3DS will start selling out in Japan and start getting huge sales in the US again.

@Axcalibur
Sorry, we can't all live in our moms basement.

@Rollins
funny feeling reading you complain about how 250 it's so damn high realizing that here in Mexico we have to pay 480 =(

@Rollins

The price is too high if people refuse to pay for it. The market can and will decide what it is willing to pay for any good based on several factors. The 3DS simply isnt worth the price right now, although with the right software it could be considered worth it. The bottom line is that THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH.

That's what happens when you launch with shitty games.

@Surkov

Actually the launch games rock. Pilotwings is excellent, and polished, just needs more content. Shadow Wars is very good, Advance-Wars or Fire Emblem style game and lasts a good 40 hours. Street Fighter port is great.

Even the built-in AR and Streetpass games are surprisingly deep with a lot of unlockable content and have hours of play.

Also the screen on this thing is jaw-dropping. Once word gets around they'll be tons of kids drooling over this thing, it'll be the holiday device to buy.

@Raffi256

I have the 3DS and decided just to rent most of the games. I'm am intensely underwhelmed.

@Anticrawl

Care to elaborate?

@Raffi256

Are you employed by Nintendo?

@Anticrawl
>I'm am

@Anticrawl

Yeah, I won the 3DS too and for the most part, it's just gathering dust in my backpack now. The battery life prevents me from taking it on any real trips and if I were to just play it at home, I could just use my computer or a console. I wrote a 3 star review about it on Amazon and its pretty popular. You should read my list of complaints there.

The system doesnt have any killer game yet...the other thing is that there are not many places to test the thing as the NDs and wii had.

I love Nintendo, but $250 is high for a system that currently has games that are, at best, unremarkable.

@darkinchworm

If you think $250 is a lot wait 'till you see what the NGP will cost. Prices are going up for eveything right now across the board.

@Raffi256
Oh, I have no doubt that the NGP will be remarkably expensive as well, and probably more than the 3DS. Even if I did want the 3DS now - I do, but not so much any of the games currently out - I simply cannot afford it. I will be getting it when I can. If the NGP comes at a time when I can buy it and it has anything compelling at launch, sure, I will possibly nab it at launch.

@Raffi256

Sony already said the NGP wouldn't cost too much. i.e PS3 at launch

@den69

That doesn't really nail it down anymore though. So it could cost between $300 and $600?

@Raffi256
Except for the fact that the NGP will be valued more, worth more. Nintendo has gone on record that they are intentionally over-pricing the 3DS because they can. That's fine, too. I don't hate them or think they're stupid for doing it. But at the same time, I'm not buying it at that price.

The 3DS is totally unremarkable hardware. You take out the "3D" and it's just a huge bag of, "REALLY!?" Yes, I understand that it takes more to push 3D but it simply isn't worth it atm.

Nintendo deserves every bit of criticism it gets regarding its price and hardware. If Sony launched something with 3DS specs, they'd be chastised into oblivion.

The NGP will likely be priced at $299. At least one model of it, and if that happens Nintendo will be in trouble until they drop the price or start the flood of good games.

Sony really does have a chance at beating Nintendo, finally. They just better take advantage of it and release the NGP at a loss, if they have to in order to make a competitive price point. Oh, and yeah, release games worth playing and buying a new system for. (NGP doesn't have that, either. Just more of the same)

@Mmmmz

Well, handhelds have never been sold at a loss, mainly because you can't make much money from selling accessories, controllers, and services like you can with a console. Also the games are priced at a lower point. And historically, having a handheld with higher technical specifications hasn't translated into better sales. Almost every competitor to the Gameboy or DS models had faster processors, etc and they were all crushed in market share.

I went to Best Buy to try this out... my eyes will never be the same... its like watching a 3D movie without the glasses

@SuMtOnE - I had the exact same experience, except at a Target. Everyone tells me that it gets better, but at $250, and with no games I want to play currently, the 3DS was a non-starter for me.

Even with everything stacked against it, 3.6 million units is a huge number though, assuming that those are units sold, and not units shipped.

@SuMtOnE ...profound?

@SuMtOnE

I hear ya on that. I played the 3DS for 5 minutes at BB and it made me want to vomit for like 2 hours. I don't want to pay for that privilege.

@MrSmiley1

That sounds pretty severe and more like a coincidence than a result of looking at the 3DS. I played it for 20 min at BB, left and drove 30 min home with zero "after effects" of any kind, except that I was quite impressed with the 3D screen. $250 is just too high though.

@Chibi Chaingun

Note that a lot of the stores have the thing strapped down and prevent you from holding it at a good angle for the 3D effect.

@SuMtOnE
thats the idea

Well I'm waiting on the second version of it before i go out and snag me one. I'm pretty sure it will happen as with all its handhelds

@Ryuhero Same here. I learned my lesson with the DS. Bought the DS phat, a month later a game site found the redesign for a DS lite. Waited well after it was out to get one, oh hai DSi. I didn't even bother with that one or the XL because they took out the GBA slot.

@Ryuhero

Just because it happened to the GameBoy 4 times and to the DS 4 times does not guarantee...

...Crap.

@CaptainProtonX
This classic Dilbert comic seems appropriate:
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1997-05-29/

@Powerlord

"Well, sometimes the business world is funny."

This holiday, when the big games hit, I think they'll be in good shape. But, they've learned that you can't launch with crap. I've purchased EVERY Nintendo platform at launch since the SNES... until the 3DS.

That's what'll happen with a bad launch line-up and little to differenciate it from the last, much cheaper DS.

@My Prerogative While I agree with the launch lineup - more ass than a donkey farm - it actually has a lot to differentiate itself from the regular DS. Much more powerful, big jump in graphical quality (3D or not) and that AR stuff which has a huge amount of potential. It's a big step up from the old console. It's just missing the games.

"Nintendo has a followup earnings briefing scheduled for next Tuesday in Tokyo"

Forget the financial/forecast based plans. Everytime they have one of those meetings is held its just an excuse to announce or provide us with something nice... you should really post.

"so perhaps we'll prepare the website for a small outburst of 3DS related goodies in the form of video's, images and the odd tibid of nostalgic and possibly intriguing information"

I can live with the price, but overall it's just not a very attractive package.
Games are not here yet, and battery life is horrible.

It makes sense. It's a high priced gimmicky toy that doesn't have half of the features available at launch, causes headaches when played for prolonged periods of time, has bad battery life, no games, and released in a lousy economy.

Of course, by the time that gets translated into Japanese, the statement will be "The 3DS is simply a piece of technology that is ahead of its time."

@baby sea tuna

That word gimmicky sure is annoying. The DS's two screens were called gimmicky too. I don't even care anymore. I respect that Nintendo tries new things and frankly I like their "gimmicks". I just wish they adopted into the HD "gimmick". They will be late to the game with that much like the N64 was late to the whole "3D polygon" gimmick. How 'bout that crazy d-pad gimmick!?! amirite!?!

@baby sea tuna
"gimmicky"

Jesus christ, are we still in 2006?

@Vegeta has a ps3
People do love their negative buzzwords so much that they lose all meaning. Over at Massively everyone's favorite words are 'grindfest', 'wow-clone', and 'wow-killer'.

@Chibi Chaingun
The 3D is a gimmick, sorry, but it's true. You don't need it to play ANY of the games. It doesn't make the games funner. Not to mention the drain on the battery which defeats the purpose of a handheld device.

It's a neat trick, a fun gimmick, but it is not worth the price of entry.

Where's that Layton/Wright crossover?

@Zertoss. In japan, where it'll stay, Because are capcom are a bunch of douchebags that don't know what their fans want.

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Iwata: 3DS launch sales below expectations

Reader Comments (120)

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:32PM Rollins said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:35PM geniuswithagun said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:50PM Dirty said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:53PM Mrguy you know that guy said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:45PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:57PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:00PM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:26PM Axcalibur said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:39PM daytripper said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:43PM Adridle said

Posted: Apr 27th 2011 3:30PM Dirty said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:33PM Surkov said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:43PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:46PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:51PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:18PM Co said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:31PM mcnichoj said

Posted: May 3rd 2011 10:53PM killerjuice said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:34PM irotmx said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:36PM darkinchworm said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:47PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:58PM darkinchworm said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:00PM den69 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:02PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:02PM Mmmmz said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:08PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:36PM SuMtOnE said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:43PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:45PM geniuswithagun said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:06PM MrSmiley1 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:36PM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:54PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Apr 28th 2011 4:43PM gevenstaines said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:38PM Ryuhero said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:52PM VioletArrows said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:11PM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 5:33PM Powerlord said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:00PM Hirsbrunner said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:41PM My Prerogative said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:32PM SynthOno said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:41PM Red Deer said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:43PM Ben64 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:44PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 3:31PM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 4:27PM Vegeta has a ps3 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 5:11PM VioletArrows said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 5:17PM fohf said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:44PM Zertoss said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 2:55PM Mrguy you know that guy said

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